Defaults

This skill holds the interface defaults that apply on every screen. It covers surfaces, type, sound, focus, forms, loading and overlays.

Tokens first, then these values

Use the project's token wherever one exists for a value below. Where none exists, the values here are exact. A hard scroll cut or a clipped shadow is a finding in any style.

Words and punctuation belong to copy. Building any of these with the project's primitive belongs to reuse. Whether a sound or an animation should exist at all belongs to restraint. How things move belongs to motion, and colour and contrast belong to color. Concentric radii, optical nudges and icon alignment belong to alignment.

Scroll edges fade

A scroll container fades at its ends with a mask-image gradient. A hard cut at the overflow edge is defaults-fade-not-cut. The recipe is in recipes.md.

Shadows are never cut off

Give a scroller enough padding that its children's shadows fit inside it. A shadow clipped by overflow: hidden is defaults-no-clipped-shadow. See recipes.md.

Code and tables scroll, never wrap

Code blocks and data tables scroll sideways with a hidden scrollbar. A wrapping code line is defaults-scroll-not-wrap. See recipes.md.

Overlays keep their scroll

Scrollable dialogs, drawers, menus and side panels set overscroll-behavior: contain. A modal list whose end scrolls the page behind it is defaults-contain-overscroll.

Sticky chrome keeps its edge

A sticky header or footer takes a 1px border against the content scrolling under it. A borderless sticky header is defaults-sticky-border.

Set scroll-padding-block-start to the sticky header's height, so anchors and focused fields land below it. A focused field hidden under the header is defaults-clear-sticky-chrome.

Floating surfaces take a ring, not a border

A popover, menu or card that floats pairs its shadow with a translucent 1px ring inside the shadow stack. An opaque border beside a shadow is defaults-ring-not-border. Keep border: 1px solid transparent under the ring, so forced-colours mode still draws an edge.

Shadows are layered and fall one way

Use the project's elevation token. Without one, layer three shadows with blur growing and opacity falling, all offset downward. One 0 4px 16px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) is defaults-layered-shadows. See recipes.md.

To raise a surface on hover, fade in a pseudo-element that holds the raised shadow. A transition on box-shadow is defaults-fade-the-shadow. See recipes.md.

Content images take a faint outline

Photos and screenshots take a 1px outline inset by 1px, black at 10% in light mode and white at 10% in dark. A photo edge melting into its card is defaults-image-outline. Skip logos and transparent artwork. See recipes.md.

Cards never nest

A card never sits inside another card. Put the heading outside and let one surface hold the content. A card inside a card is defaults-no-nested-cards.

Rounded, not pill

Buttons and chips use the radius token. border-radius: 9999px is defaults-rounded-not-pill.

No decoration

Drop decorative gradients, glows, blur and depth effects. A glow behind a card is defaults-no-decoration.

The theme reaches the browser

A dark theme sets color-scheme: dark on the root, so scrollbars and native controls follow it. A light scrollbar on a dark page is defaults-color-scheme. Set one theme-color tag per colour scheme, matching the top of the page.

A theme switch turns transitions off for one frame. Every colour fading at once as the theme changes is defaults-quiet-theme-switch. See recipes.md.

Focus rings for the keyboard only

Use :focus-visible with outline. A ring on every click is defaults-focus-keyboard-only.

Dialogs hold focus

A dialog moves focus inside on open, keeps Tab inside and returns focus to its trigger on close. Focus left on the page behind an open dialog is defaults-trap-and-return-focus. A native <dialog> opened with showModal() handles the trap.

Targets are at least 24px

Every interactive target is at least 24px on its shorter side, and aims for 40px with a mouse and 44px on touch. When the glyph is smaller, a pseudo-element with a negative inset carries the hit area. A 16px icon button with a 16px hit box is defaults-hit-area. Extended hit areas never overlap. See recipes.md.

Controls say what they are

An icon-only button carries an aria-label that says what it does. A bare trash icon with no name is defaults-name-icon-buttons.

Status never rests on colour alone. Pair it with an icon or a word. A red dot as the only sign of an error is defaults-not-color-alone.

Links are links

Navigation uses <a href>, so new-tab clicks, middle clicks and copy link all work. A div whose onClick changes the route is defaults-links-are-links.

State lives in the URL

Filters, tabs, pagination and open panels write to the URL, so refresh, share and Back keep them. A filter lost on refresh is defaults-state-in-url.

Zoom stays on

Never set maximum-scale=1 or user-scalable=no in the viewport tag. A page that blocks pinch zoom is defaults-allow-zoom.

Taps feel native

Set -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent once on the root, and give every tappable element its own :active state. A grey flash on tap is defaults-no-tap-highlight.

Buttons and links set touch-action: manipulation, so a tap fires without waiting for a second tap. A tap that lands 300ms late is defaults-fast-tap. See recipes.md.

Hover styles need a hover pointer

Wrap hover-only styles in @media (hover: hover) and (pointer: fine), or a tap leaves them stuck on touch screens. A card that stays lifted after a tap is defaults-hover-capable-only.

Full-height layouts use dynamic units

An app shell or a bottom-pinned bar uses 100dvh, and a first screen uses min-height: 100svh. A 100vh shell whose bottom button hides under the URL bar is defaults-dynamic-viewport.

Content clears the notch

Add viewport-fit=cover to the viewport tag, then pad fixed headers, tab bars, toasts and sheets with env(safe-area-inset-*). A bottom bar under the home indicator is defaults-safe-areas.

Controls are not selectable

Buttons, tabs, chips and drag handles set user-select: none, so a long press does not select their label. Content text stays selectable. A button label highlighted by a long press is defaults-controls-not-selectable.

Hotkeys stay out of inputs

Hotkeys do not fire while an input, a textarea or an editable element has focus. That is defaults-keys-ignore-inputs. See recipes.md.

Enter submits

Enter submits a form with one field, or from the form's last field. In a textarea, Enter adds a line and ⌘ or Ctrl with Enter submits. A search field that needs a click to submit is defaults-enter-submits.

Fields accept what people paste

A field takes input the way people type or paste it, such as spaces in a card number or brackets in a phone number. Strip the formatting in code and show the value cleanly. A phone field that rejects +1 (555) 010-2030 is defaults-accept-messy-input. Never block paste, and trim the trailing space some keyboards add.

Fields ask for the right keyboard

Every field sets type, inputmode and autocomplete, so the keyboard and autofill fit it. An email field typed as plain text is defaults-input-types.

On mobile, inputs render at 16px or larger, or iOS zooms the page on focus. A 14px input on a phone is defaults-input-16px.

Labels share the hit area

Every control has a label, and clicking the label works the control. A checkbox whose text does nothing when clicked is defaults-label-hit-area.

Forms validate on submit

Submit stays enabled until the request starts. On submit, show each error beside its field and focus the first one. A submit button disabled until the form is valid is defaults-validate-on-submit.

Busy buttons keep their label

While its request runs, a button keeps its label, shows an indicator and disables itself. A label replaced by a spinner that shrinks the button is defaults-loading-button.

Destructive actions can be undone

Offer undo after a destructive action. Where undo is impossible, confirm in place with a menu or a popover. A delete with neither is defaults-undo-destructive.

Numbers line up

Prices, counts, timers and table columns use font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums. A counter whose width jitters as it ticks is defaults-tabular-numbers.

Headings balance, paragraphs wrap pretty

Headings take text-wrap: balance and body paragraphs take text-wrap: pretty. A heading with one word alone on its last line is defaults-balanced-wrap.

Text renders crisp

Set -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased and -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale once, on the root. Smoothing missing, or set component by component, is defaults-antialiased-root.

Inline code sits smaller

Monospace inside running text drops to 0.9em. Inline code at full size, towering over its sentence, is defaults-inline-mono.

Truncation has a way back

Truncated text the user needs opens in full through a tooltip, an expand control or a detail view. A cut-off file name with no way to read it is defaults-truncate-with-way-back. File names and paths truncate in the middle, where they differ. Numbers, amounts and dates never truncate.

Layouts survive real data

Test every field with the longest realistic value. Text columns take min-width: 0, fixed boxes such as avatars take flex-shrink: 0 and emails and URLs take overflow-wrap: anywhere. A long email pushing the row menu off screen is defaults-survives-long-content.

A missing optional field drops its line rather than showing a placeholder. A lone dash where the role should be is defaults-omit-empty-fields.

Numbers, dates and plurals follow the locale

Format them through Intl.NumberFormat, Intl.DateTimeFormat and Intl.PluralRules. 1 members or a raw 1284 is defaults-locale-format.

Updates announce themselves

Toasts, result counts and inline validation sit in a polite live region, role="status", rendered empty before its text changes. A toast that screen readers never hear is defaults-announce-updates.

Waits show feedback at once

An action responds within 400ms or shows feedback straight away, as an optimistic value, a skeleton or a progress bar. A loading branch that returns null is defaults-instant-feedback.

Hold a spinner or skeleton back 150–300ms, then keep it up at least 300–500ms once shown. A skeleton that flashes for one frame is defaults-no-flicker-loading. A skeleton matches the layout it stands in for. See recipes.md.

Sound confirms, never alone

Sound fits confirmations such as payment, upload or submit. It also fits errors that must not be missed. Every cue has a visible twin, such as a status change. A success chime with nothing changing on screen is defaults-sound-has-a-twin.

Typing, hover, scroll and keyboard navigation make no sound. A click on every keystroke is defaults-no-sound-on-repeat.

The user can turn sound off, and volume starts at 0.3. A hardcoded audio.volume = 1 with no off switch is defaults-sound-optional. Playback and a synthesized click are in recipes.md.

One dialog at a time

Never open a dialog on top of a dialog. Use a menu, a popover or a new page. That is defaults-no-stacked-dialogs.

The pair

Every check is a pair. The broken line sits beside the line that replaces it.

Reporting

Severity. HIGH breaks use or access. That is a clipped shadow, a hard scroll cut, hotkeys that fire while typing, a stacked dialog, a target under 24px or a silent wait. It is also a field that rejects pasted formatting, or sound with no visual twin or off switch. It is also an unnamed icon button, status in colour alone, focus that escapes a dialog, blocked zoom or a route with no link. It is also a submit disabled until valid, a truncated value with no way back or a destructive action with no undo or confirmation. It is also content pushed off screen by a long value, a 100vh shell hiding its controls or a bar under the home indicator.

MEDIUM is a pill button, a click focus ring or a hover stuck on touch. It is also proportional figures in data, sound on a frequent action, scroll leaking from an overlay, state lost on refresh or a flickering skeleton. It is also a field with the wrong keyboard, a mobile input under 16px, a dead label, Enter that does not submit or a busy button with no indicator. It is also an unannounced update, a field hidden under sticky chrome or a card inside a card. It is also a tap flash or tap delay, a selectable control label or an unformatted number or plural.

LOW is an opaque border beside a shadow, a decorative glow, a single harsh shadow or a transitioned box-shadow. It is also unbalanced headings, a missing image outline, a borderless sticky header, a light scrollbar on a dark page, a smeared theme switch or missing root font smoothing. It is also full-size inline code or a placeholder dash for an empty field.

Format. One finding per root cause:

file:line - [rule-id] what is wrong

Then a Rule | Count | Severity summary. Block when any HIGH remains, Approve otherwise. Never Approve a file you did not read. Open the screen when a check depends on layout, and mark every check you could not run as Not verified.